Improved brick-machine



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC GREGG, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IIVIPROVED BRICK-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59.212, dated October 30, 1866.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC GREGG, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Brick-Machines, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the same, reference.

the mold-plates in advance of the roller which lubricates the same.

In order to enable others skilled in the artto make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure l is a longitudinal section of sucient of the brick-machine to illustrate my present improvements; Fig. 2 the same, with the operatingparts inpositions differingfrom those shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a transverse section on the ,line 1 2, Fig. 2A; Fig. 4, a transverse section on the line 3 4;, Fig. 2; and Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8, detached views of parts of the machine.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A and A' are the two side frames of the machine, between which the mold-plate B is arranged to slide to and fro freely, the said plate having on its opposite edges ribs c a, adapted to grooves in the inside of the two frames A and A', as seen in Figs. 3 and 4; o r the plate may be supported on and guided by pulleys having V-shaped peripheries, adapted to similarly-shaped grooves in the under side of the said mold-plate, in which thereare two sets of molds, e and f, and, in the present instance, four molds in each set, the two sets being separated from each other by a narrow blank space, y.

A follower or piston, h, is fitted snugly, but so as to slide freely, in ,each mold, the stem or rod i of the piston passing through and being` guided by a hole in the bottom of each mold, asin my aforesaid patents. Each piston and rod may be made 'of cast-iron, and in one piece 5 but the lower end of the rod is provided with a detachable head or iiange, g, of wroughtiron or steel, in the manner readily observed.

by referring to Fig. 8, each head being cut away or halved, the heads or the rods of one set of molds on one side, and those of the rods ofthe other set of molds on the opposite side, in the manner shown at :vFig. 8, and for a purpose described hereinafter.

To the frame-work of the machine are secured two stands, D and D', in the former of which turns a shaft, E, and in the latter a similar shaft, E', the shaft E carrying a wheel, F, and the shaft E' carrying a similar wheel,

F'. Both wheels F and F are halved, or, in"

other words, one half is made of a greater diameter than the other, as seen in Fig. 5, the smaller portion of the wheel F being toward the rear, and that of .the wheel F toward the front, of the machine, and the halving of the two wheels corresponding to that of the heads g of the rods z'. I

The stand D has a projection, d, the upper edge of which is inclined or curved, and-is re-.

cessed, as shown att, Fig. 6; and the stand D' has a similar inclined and recessed projection,

d', the recess of the projection d of the stand v D being on the rear side, and that of the projection d' of the stand D on the front side, of the machine. This halving` of the wheels F and F' of the projections d and d' and of the heads g of the pistons is such that the pistons of the set of molds j' shall be elevated when passing over the the projection d and wheel F, but shall remain undisturbed when passing over the projection d' and wheel F', while the pistons of the set of molds e will be elevated on passing over the projection d' and wheel F', but not elevated when passing over the projection d and wheel F.

The importance of this arrangement will be explained hereinafter.

There are two lifters, G and G', constructed and operating in a manner similar to that described in my patent of May 19, 1863, each lifter consisting of a bar or plate having a longitudinal chamber to receive the heads or ilanges g on the rods of the pistons, the chamber being so constructed that the ascent and descent of the lifter will insure the proper ascent and descent of the pistons. Each lifter is connected to the frame-work of the machine by two parallel bars, H H, and is provided with a projection, j, to be acted upon, that of the lifter G by the hooked projections m and 'n on the moldplate B, and that of the lifter G' by the hooked projections m' and a' in the manner described in my aforesaid patent and referred to hereinafter.

I is the hopper for receiving the clay, and in this hopper is a segmental roller (shown by dotted lines) :for compressing the clay into the molds. rlhis roller is in too common use to need further description. The opposite ends of the hopper are not in contact with the upper surface of the mold-plate B; but to each end of the hopper is secured an inclined knife, q, the edge of which is as near to the edge of the mold-plate as possible without being in absolute contact therewith.

The hopper is situated between two plates, J and J', which may be made hollow, so as to be heated by the introduction of steam, as described in my patent of December 19, 1865, the under faces of these plates or boxes heilig' prefectly smooth and close to the upper surface of the mold-plate.

Two bottomless boxes, K and K', are arranged to slide in appropriate guides to and fro across the upper surface of the frame of the machine, one near each end of the same and across the mold-plate, the movement of the box being effected at the proper time by any suitable mechanism. Each box contains a brush, M, and an oiler, N, which, as the box moves in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 4, are caused to revolve by any suitable system of gearing or belts inthe directions pointed out by their arrows.

The oiler consists of a spindle, round which is wrapped felt, wool, or other iibrous material, which will absorbthe oil in small tanks L secured to the frame-work, each box K moving above this tank, so that the oiler may absorb a portion of its contents.

Operation: A horizontal reciprocating motion is imparted to the mold-plate by such mechanism that it shall remain stationary for a short time after reaching the limit of each movement, as in my patent of May 19, 1863.

In Fig. 1 the mold-plate is in the act of moving in the direction of its arrow, the set of molds j' being beneath the hopper and receiving the iirst charge of clay.

rlhe molds chave already been fully charged with compressed clay bythe action ofthe segmental roller, and the heads or anges on the rods of the pistons of these molds are in the act of traversing over and in contact withthe inclined edge of the projection d' and the periphery of the wheel F', and into the longitudinal chamber of the lifter Gr. As the head or ange of the rod of each piston passes along the inclined edge of the said projection it is elevated a short distance, and the compressed clay iii the mold is pushed `a short distance from the latter, the portion of the compressed clay above the mold-plate being, however, cut off by the oblique knife q, and on the further movement of the mold-plate the portion thus cut off remains in the hopper, leaving the surface of the clay perfectly smooth and level with the surface of the said mold-plate.

When any of the molds e with the superiiuous clay thus shaved off arrives at a position beneath the plate J', the piston is again elevated to a slight extent, owing to the iiange or head of the rod passing over and in contact with the periphery of the wheel F'. This gives the iinal upward pressure to the clay in the mold, the upper surface of the clay being forced against the under smooth surface of the plate J, thereby completing the brick.

Vhen the whole of the flanges or heads of the rods of the pistons in the molds e c have passed into the longitudinal chamber of the lifter G', the projection m on the mold-plate strikes the projection j of the said lifter, and elevates the latter to the position seen in Fig. 2, thereby pushing the compressed bricks upward from the Whole of the molds c a, and elevating them to such a position that their under edges will be level with the upper surface of the mold-plate. The further movement of the said mold-plate in the direction of the arrow is now temporarily arrested, and the box 7c is moved in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 4, the front of the box pushing the whole of the bricks from the tops of the pistons onto a receiving-board, the brush M clearing the surface of the piston and mold-plate from super-- fluous clay, and the oiler N lubricating the surface of the pistons. After accomplishing these duties, the box 7c' remains at rest until the mold-plate arrives at the limit of its backward movement, when it again returns to its former position. The mold-plate now cornmences its movement in a direction contrary to that pointed out by the arrow.

It will be seen on reference to Fig. 2, which shows the mold-plate at the limit of one of its movements, that the rods ofthe molds f f have traversed above the projection d', and some of them above the wheel F'. The vertical position of the followers is not, however, affected either by the projection d' or wheel F', owing to the above-described halving or recessing of theheads of the piston, of the projections fl and d', and of the wheels F and F'.

As the mold-plate Bicontinues its movement in adirection contrary to that pointed ont by the arrow, Fig. 1, the the molds j' j' pass beneath the hopper I, and,having heretofore received a primary supply of clay, are furnished with an additional supply, the two supplies being firmly compressed into the said mold, the pistons of which are brought under the control of the projection d, so that the clay in the molds is elevated to be subsequently shaved off, elevated against the plate J, and subsel il quently acted on precisely in the manner described in reference to the clay in the molds e e.

The further operation of my improved machine will be readily understood without further description.

It Will only be necessary to add that during, each movement of the mold-plate one set -of molds with their appliances have completed one set of bricks while the other set of molds have received their rst charge of clay, and that at the termination of each movement of the mold-plate, while the latter is temporarily stationary, the surface of the said plate and that of the elevated pistons is brushed clear of particles of clay and properly lubricated.

There are two main features in my present improvements which it will be advisable to allude to. The rst is the brushing of the superfluous particles of clay from the surface of the pistons prior to lubricating the same. This feature has been so fully described and its object is so apparent that further mention of it would be superfluous.

The second feature is the insuring of the pistons resting` solidly at the bottom of their molds before the latter receive their final supply of compressed clay.

I have found by repeated experiments that if the pistons are 'elevated but a short distance above their proper resting places, and that if reliance be placed upon the clay and the pressure above it to depress the pistons to the bottom of the molds, any inequality in the lling,` of the said molds, or any inequality in the fibers or granulation of the clay, will rey sult in imperfect and cracked bricks.

This evil has been obviated in my present improvements by maintaining` the pistons at `the bottom ofthe molds prior to receiving their last charge of compressed clay, and this proper position has been insured, as will be readily understood by reference to the foregoing portion of the specification, by the halving or recessiing` of the wheels F and F', the projections d and el', and the heads g of the rods of the piston.

I claim as my invention and' desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The brush M, so arranged and operated as to clear the upper surfaces of the pistons from superfluous clay in advance of the oiler.

2. The combination of the revolving brush M and revolving oiler N in the same boX 7c, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the heads or flanges g of the rods of the two sets of pistons with the stationary inclined projections d and d', when the said heads and projections are so formed that when the heads of one set of piston-rods traverse over one of the said projections the former will be elevated by the latter, but will remain depressed While traversing over the other projection, all substantially as set forth, for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the Wheels F and F with the heads of the rods of the two sets of pistons, when the said Wheels and rods are' recessed or halved, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub- 

